Holding device for window-shades



P. G. EMERY.

HOLDING DEVICE FOR wmuow SHADES.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 3|, I915.

Patented Jan. 6, 1920.

INVENTOR.'

BY I V ATTORNEYS.

PLATO G. EMERY, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

HOLDING DEVICE FOR WINDOW-SHADES.

Application filed March 31, 1915.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, PLATO G. EMERY, a citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, county of Cook, State of Illinois, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Holding Devices for \Vindow- Shades, and declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the same, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it pertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, whlch form a part of this specification.

My invention relates to shades or curtains of the type used in the cars of steam or electric roads, wherein each shade is mounted at its upper end on a spring roller and is provided at its lower end with a stick whose ends carry shoes for engagement with the side members of the window frame for the double purpose of guiding the lower end of the curtain and also locking it at any desired elevation against the tension of the spring in the roller; and has for its object to simplify the construction so as to insure an effective locking of the shade against accidental movemeiit in either direction, while permitting it to be adjusted and locked by a simple manipulation which will be performed naturally by a passenger.

In the most common construction there are finger pieces at about the middle of the shade stick intended to be grasped by a person desiring to raise or lower the shade, for the purpose of releasing the locking means and if this is done, the shade may be moved easily, but people have a habit of pulling and jerking the shade stick instead of operating the finger pieces and therefore experience diiiiculty in raising and lowering shades of this kind. In accordance with my invention there is applied to the end of the shade stick a simple little locking dog having two working positions in one of which it will securely hold the stick against upward movement and permit it to travel down freely and in the other of which it holds the stick securely against downward movement and permits it to move freely in the upward direction; while, upon giving a predetermined pull or push on the shade stick, the dog will be thrown from one working position to the other. Thus in one position the locking dog will securely iold the shade stick against moving upwardly against the tension of the spring but, upon giving a Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Jan. 6, 1920.

Serial No. 18,293.

slight upward push upon the stick, the dog will be shifted to its other working position and permit the shade to run up freely.

The various features of novelty whereby my invention is characterized will hereinafter be pointed out with particularity in the claims; but, for a full understanding of my invention and of its object and advantages, reference may be hadto the following detailed description taken in connection with the accompanying clrawing,-wherein:

Figure l is an elevation of the upper portion of a window with a shade device arranged in accordance with the present invention applied thereto, a portion of the shade stick being shown in section;

Fig. 2 is a vertical section on a larger scale through one of the shoes, the section being in the plane of the axis of the stick and the locking dog being in the position to lock the shoe against upward movement;

Fig. 3 is a view similar to Fig. 2 showing the positions of the parts just as the locking shoe is passing the center from one working position to the other;

Fig. 4 is a View similar to Figs. 1 and 2 showing the locking dog in the opposite po sition from that indicated in Fig. 2 and Fig. 5 is a sectional view of .a modified form of shoe.

Referring to the drawing, 1 represents a shade mounted upon a suitable roller, 2, which is carried in suitable fixtures near the top of the side members, 3 and a, of a window frame so as to bring the shade between the members 3 and at. At the lower end 01" the shade is a shade stick, 5, which may be made tubular in form as heretofore. My improved holding device may be applied to the stick in various ways, the drawing illustrating it carried upon the roller shoes, 6, ordinarily employed; and, for the sake of brevity, I shall confine the detailed description to this particular embodiment as well as to the single form of locking dog illustrated, although I desire to have it understood that my invention is not limited to these details.

The shoes 6 have parts extending into the ends of the stick and behind each of the shoes is a spring, 7, tending to press the shoe and therefore the dog, to be hereinafter described, outwardly. Each shoe has rollers, 8, at the ends thereof these rollers being in tended to engage with the adjacent window frame members. to permit the stick to ride down'when the locking force is removed.

art so shaped and so mounted as to be movable from one working position to the other and to exert an increasing locking pressure against the window frame as it approaches from eitlier direction what may be called a dead center and then suddenly ceases to exert a holding pressure so as to permit freedom of movement of the shade. In the arrangement shown, the dog consists of a small block, 9, secured within the shoe by a small transverse pivot, 10; the outer edge of the block having several faces arranged at angles to each other so as to provide corners. 11, 12 and 18, the block being symmetrical with respect to a line passing through the corner 12 and the pivotal axis, the corners 11 and 13 being on opposite sides of this line. This gives the outer edge of the block the shape of a double angular cam whose highest point is the point 12 and which recedes in both directions to the corners 11 and 18, respectively.

In Fig. 2 the parts are shown in the posi tions that they occupy in Fig. 1, the face between the corners or points 12 and 13 bear ing against the frame member 8 and the rollers being lifted clear from the frame so that the stick is frictionally clamped at its ends against the frame. This condition is brought about through the action of the spring in the curtain roller exerted on the stick, tending to lift the stick and to rock the dog on the frame in the direction to bring the highest points of the cam surface in cpntact with the frame. The parts are so proportioned that the upward pull of the spring in the shade roller is overcome when the dogs are brought into the locking posi tion just described. With the dogs in the positions locking the shade against upward movement, they offer no resistance, how ever, to the downward movement of the shade because such downward movement tends to swing the dogs in the clockwise direction as viewed in Fig. 2 and the dogs are so shaped behind or below the point 13 that no wedging action will be produced by a downward movement of the shade unless the dogs are shifted into their other work ing positions, but the dogs will simply trail in the manner of idle pawls as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 2 and allow the rollers to run on the frame. In case it is desired .to raise the curtain, the stick is given a slight upward push, sufficient to overcome the springs 7 in the stick and cause the cam dogs to rock through the position indicated in Fig. 3 to the position indicated in dotted lines in Fig. 4, in which latter position the dog rides simply as an idle pawl when the shade is moved upwardly, but assumes the position indicated in full lmes and grips the frame and clamps the stick against a downward movement; such a downward movement being permitted, however, when the stick is given a predetermined downward pull, bringing the dog back to the dotted line position shown in Fig. 2.

The dogs are provided, in the arrange ment shown, with springs, 14, tending, no matter in which of the two working positions one of the dogs is, to swingit so as to carry its highest points outwardly. The addition of the springs 1 1 serves to make the action of the dogs positive in both directions of movement of the shade because they al ways hold the cam surfaces of the dogs in contact with the frame.

In Fig. 5 I have illustrated a modified arrangement in which the dog 15 is in the form of a triangular block having its base bearing against the stationary member 3. Behind the dog is a wedge block, 16, taking the form of two wedge blocks abutting against each other at their thick ends and providing two oppositely inclined faces, 17 and 18, parallel with the two rear faces of the dog. A spring device, such as springs 19 and 20 on opposite sides of the dog, tends to hold the dog with its apex at the apex of the double wedge. If desired, the dog may be held against dropping out when the shoe is not in use, by means of a pin, 21, passing through an angular slot, 22, in the dog; the slot being made of two connected sections lying parallel with the rear edges of the dog. The parts are so proportioned that the dog may move inwardly on either of the faces 17 and 18 until its outer edge is behind a line tangent to the outer portions of the rollers 8 and may move outwardly along either of these faces until the outer edge projects beyond this line; in the one case allowing the shoes to run on the rollers and in the other lifting the shoes until the rollers are clear of the adjacent frame and locking the stick just as it is locked by the dog 9 in the full line position of Figs. 2 and i. In the positions of the parts illustrated, the shade stick is locked against upward movement; but, by giving a predetermined upward push on the stick, the tension of the spring corresponding to the spring 7 is overcome and the apex of the double wedge rides past the apex of the dog, allowing the shoe to be pressed outwardly by the spring 7 until the rollers engage with the frame and the dog trails and exerts only such negligible frictional resistance as is caused by the tendency of the light spring 26 to move it toward the center of the shoe. After the dog has been shifted from the face 17 to the face 18 of the double wedge, it acts to lock the stick against downward movement until a predetermined downward pull is exerted and causes the dog to return to the position indicated in Fig. 5.

While I have illustrated and described with particularity only a single preferred form of my invention, I do not desire to be limited to the exact structural details thus illustrated and described, but intend to cover all forms and arrangements which come within the terms employed in the definitions of my invention constituting the appended claims. Furthermore, by the term stick I do not mean any particular form of device but any stifl" part of a shade or the like which will act as a strut between two dogs.

I claim:

1. The combination with the stick of a shade, of a dog on the end of the stick for engagement with a window frame, means yieldingly pressing said dog outwardly, the outer edge of the dog being in the form of a cam receding from a high portion in opposite directions along said edge, means for supporting the dog so as to permit it to shift from a position in which the high portion of the cam lies on one side of a dead center to a position in which it lies on the opposite side of a dead center, and the parts being so proportioned that a predetermined push or pull on the stick in the same direction as that in which the high portion of the dog lies from the dead center will cause the dog to rock upon the frame and reverse its position.

2. The combination with the stick of a shade, of a dog 011 the end of the stick for engagement with a window frame, means yieldingly pressing said dog outwardly, the outer edge of the dog being in the form of a cam receding from a high portion in opposite directions along said edge, means for supporting the dog so as to permit it to shift from a position in which the high portion of the cam lies on one side of a dead center to a position in which it lies on the opposite side of a dead center, and the parts being so proportioned that a predetermined push or pull on the stick in the same direction as that in which the high portion of the dog lies from the dead center will cause the dog to rock upon the frame and reverse its position, and means acting on the dog and tending to move said high portion of the cam toward said dead center from both working positions of the dog.

3. In combination, a shade stick, a cam dog on said stick, means for pressing said dog outwardly, said dog being movable transversely of the stick between two workin g positions in each of which it engages the window frame and serves as a lock to hold the stick against movement in one direction and permit movement in the opposite direction, the dog being so shaped as to permit it to be shifted from either of such positions to the other through rocking on the window frame when the stick is given a predetermined push or pull in the direction against which it is locked by the dog.

4. In combination, a shade stick, a cam dog on said stick, means for pressing said dog outwardly, said dog being movable transversely of the stick between two working positions in each of which it engages the window frame and serves as a lock to hold the stick against movement in one direction and permit movement in the opposite direction, the dog being so shaped as to permit it to be shifted from either of such positions to the other through rocking on the window frame when the stick is given a predetermined push or pull in the direction against which it is locked by the dog, and means tending normally to hold the dog in an intermediate position.

5. In combination, a shade stick, a shoe on said stick, rollers on the shoe for engaging with a window frame, a cam dog mounted on the shoe and movable in opposite directions from aposition wherein a portion of the cam projects beyond a line tangent to the rollers to positions in which no portion of the cam projects beyond said line, and means tending to move the dog from both of its retracted positions to its extended posi tion.

6. The combination with a movable mem ber, of a stationary member adjacent there to, a dog on the movable member for engagement with the stationary member, means yieldingly pressing said dog toward the stationary member, the outer edge of the dog being in the form of a cam receding from a high portion in opposite directions along said edge, means for supporting the dog so as to permit it to shift from a position in which the high portion of the cam lies on one side of a dead center to a position in which it lies on the opposite side of a dead center, and the parts being so proportioned that a push or pull on the movable member in the same direction as that in which the high portion of the dog lies from the dead center will cause the dog to rock upon the stationary member and reverse its position.

7. In combination, a shade stick, a shoe on said stick, rollers on the shoe for engaging with a window frame, a dog mounted on the shoe and movable in opposite directions from a position wherein a portion of the dog projects beyond a line tangent to the rollers to positions in which no portion of the dog projects beyond said line, and means tending to move the dog from both of its retracted positions to its extended position.

In testimony whereof I sign this specification.

PLATO G. EMERY. 

